Unlucky Escapes
by CursedRedRose
Summary: When Marinette and Adrien are partnered up for an English project, Tikki and Plagg find each other and discover the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir. After discovering the crushes their masters have on each other, they make a plan to get them together. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

_Hey! So I started watching this series about a bug and a cat and I loved it so much I had to write some fic for it. This is my first Miraculous story so if I'm getting anything wrong please tell me. Enjoy!_

"Marinette!"

The loud thump of two hands being slammed into the desk in front of her shook her violently awake and vaulted her out of her daydream world. She had been far away enjoying a picnic by the sea with Adrien and now she found herself suddenly back in her classroom. She squealed loudly and nearly fell off her chair, her face going bright red as the rest of the class burst into peals of laughter.

"Everyone, quiet down! Marinette, can you tell me what we were just discussing?" The teacher raised a stern eyebrow at her as Marinette racked her brain for an answer. How long had she had her head in the clouds? She was in English, c'mon think…

"Erm…reading is very important for expanding your mind?" She garbled weakly as the teacher sighed.

"That answer would have been correct twenty minutes ago Marinette. Try to focus more. Alya can you tell me please?"

"We were discussing the importance of classic texts and how they are still relevant to the modern world." Alya answered with ease, giving her friend an apologetic smile.

"Very good Alya. I hope you were all listening to that because that is exactly what your next project is on." Marinette winced a little but then breathed a sigh of relief when she continued. "You will be split into pairs for this and each pair will write an assignment on a different book before presenting to the class. I have already assigned the pairs so I don't want any complaining. We have Alya and Nino, Chloe and Kim, Sabrina and Rose, Ivan and Mylene…and Adrien and Marinette."

Marinette gasped and her face went flaming red again. She felt like all the air had been sucked from her lungs as Adrien turned around in his seat to face her. "That's not fair, I should be with Adrien!" She heard Chloe protest but her whining voice sounded distant in her head. Chloe was silenced by a look from the teacher and she stared daggers at her, her lips, greasy with pink lipstick, in an angry pout. Marinette wasn't focused on that though. All her attention was on Adrien as she gazed at his perfect face…

Alya elbowed her in the ribs and she realised Adrien was handing her something which she took almost robotically.

"Here, these are my notes on the lesson, you can copy them if you want." He smiled warmly at her and she felt her insides melt. "Are you free after school? We could work on it then, if you want that is." A faint pink blush of embarrassment spread on his cheeks and she felt her heart quiver at how adorable it was.

"Yeah, sure, of course I'm free! I'm free whenever!" She blurted back, trying to ignore Alya's eyes burning into her. "We could go back to mine as it's not that far, it's got food! Well, of course it does, it is a bakery, hehe…" Her voice trailed off and Alya groaned next to her.

"Sure." He replied and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself cheering. "I have a short fencing class after school so I'll be at yours at five, if that's OK?"

"OK! Sure! Five will be perfect, just like you, you're perfect…" She squeaked as she realised what she had just said but thankfully he had already turned back around. She grabbed Alya's arm in excitement and squeezed it tight. "Oh my God, did you see that?!"

"I sure did!" Alya squeezed back as she exclaimed "You and Adrien are gonna be alone in your room…"

"Me and Adrien…in my room…alone…oh no…Alya what am I going to do?!" She suddenly panicked as she mulled over the situation she had gotten herself into. "What if I make the biggest fool of myself and he ends up hating me?!"

"He won't, he survived last time you were practising for that tournament, remember?" Alya pointed out with a reassuring hand on her back. "Just be yourself and you'll be fine!"

Fine, I can be myself, she thought as the bell went and they both started packing up. If only being myself meant being less of a clumsy wreck around him…

A few hours later, she and Tikki were up in her room making sure everything was ready. They had spent the last few minutes dashing around taking down every picture of Adrien. She had been surprised by how much paper they had had to tear from the walls. Honestly, it's like I have an obsession or something…she thought as she hurriedly changed the background of her computer screen to an innocent picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir she had gotten from Alya's blog.

"Are you sure you got rid of _every_ picture?" Tikki asked her as she flew around her head.

"Positive." Marinette nodded and gestured to a drawer in her desk. "I stuffed them all in there."

"And his schedule?"

"All taken care of." Both their eyes flicked to where it had previously been on the ceiling.

"I hope that's not in the drawer too." Tikki giggled and Marinette pretended to swat her away.

"Very funny Tikki, you know it's behind the bed. Now hide, Adrien will be here any-"

She heard the doorbell and jumped up into the air. "Now Tikki!"

"OK, good luck Marinette! I believe in you!" Tikki flew over to her usual hidey-hole of Marinette's purse which had been placed on her chaise longue. She had only just buried herself inside when Sabine Cheng's head popped up from the trapdoor.

"Marinette, Adrien is here to see you!" She trilled, hardly able to hide her joy.

"We're just working on an English project Mama." Marinette said, trying to sound composed.

"Of course you are my dear," She smiled at her knowingly whilst Marinette made a little groan. "I'll send him up."

She then promptly disappeared and a few seconds later was replaced by Adrien who gave her a friendly wave as he climbed up into her room. "Hey Marinette," He said a little awkwardly and she saw he was attempting to hold a plate of chocolate chip cookies straight whilst clambering up. She ran to take them from him before any fell off and pulled him upwards. They stood there by the trapdoor for a little too long, her hands still on his wrists. She let go quickly like they were burning a brand into her skin and placed the cookies on her desk with a questioning look at Adrien who shrugged. "Your dad handed them to me the second I got through the door. It said it would be good brain food…"

"Yeah, they do that." She laughed as they both took one. "They get very…"

She struggled to find the words and Adrien laughed again. "It's OK, it's kind of nice to see." They both smiled before he checked himself and said "So this project…"

"Right." They both sat down at her desk and pulled out all their English papers along with two darkly coloured paperbacks. "I can't believe we got Jekyll and Hyde. That's got to be one of the easiest ones."

"I know. The ultimate double life story." Adrien chuckled as he allowed himself to relax. "I don't know how he managed it honestly."

"I know, I couldn't imagine being two completely different people." Marinette hid a smile as she opened her copy of the book.

 _If only you knew_ , they each thought as they started to work. Across the room, Tikki dared a sneak peek from her hiding place and awed quietly when she saw their heads working so closely together. Her face broke into a smile as she continued to watch them. They were so cute; it was like they were made for each other…

Her concentration was broken by a small chomping noise. She looked around the room for the source but there was nothing she could see. Then it happened again and she flicked her head around frantically. Where could it be coming from? The chomping sounded oddly familiar but she couldn't pinpoint how. She saw Marinette pick her head up and look around but Adrien seemed unfazed by it. Tikki glanced at him and saw a flicker of annoyance pass over his features. She scrunched up her beady eyes and focused on Adrien as he got up from the chair and went rootling around in his school bag. As he picked out another notebook she saw him drop something inside, something that made a gobbling noise as it fell into his bag.

Something is going on here, she thought as he returned to his seat. The pair of them started to work again and she eased herself quietly from the purse, frequently casting looks at them both to make sure she hadn't been spotted. Then she carefully flew around the room, darting behind items of furniture as she went. She finally got behind the chaise longue and quickly hopped into the open bag.

The first thing that hit her was the strong smell of stinky cheese. "Gah!" She recoiled covering her tiny nose. "What the heck is this?"

"What the heck are you?" She heard a sharp voice in front of her. She jumped back in fright, landing against Adrien's phone. As she looked up, a small black figure floated in front of her, holding a large piece of Camembert cheese that was almost the size of his body. His pointy green eyes went wide in shock and he almost dropped his cheese when he caught sight of the red and black fairy and she gasped in turn as she recognised him.

"Plagg?"

"Tikki?"

"What are you doing here?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Welcome to the second chapter! Thanks so much for the positive response it was so unexpected and I hope I live up to all your expectations! Enjoy and please review!_

"Whoa, hold on a second!" Plagg exclaimed as reality hit him hard, making him nearly flip in the air. "If you're here that means…Oh my God Marinette is Ladybu-"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as Tikki flew into him, cutting off his mouth with her hands and sending them flying into the other side of the bag. The force shunted the bag an inch along the floor and both Marinette and Adrien perked their heads up at the noise like two startled meerkats. Marinette gave him a concerned look but Adrien, thinking Plagg was being his usual trouble-making self, hunting through the bag for more cheese, quickly shrugged it off and they went back to work.

Tikki listened out for any noise from them whilst pinning a struggling Plagg to Adrien's school books. When she was satisfied that they were working again, she removed her hands and Plagg whipped away from her, turning his back.

"What was that for?" he sulked.

"That was for nearly letting the cat out of the bag." Tikki sniffed.

"Hey, I make the cat puns around here!"

Tikki huffed. "I thought that was Chat Noir."

"Well, I help. A little." Plagg said as he retrieved his lump of cheese from the ground.

"When you aren't being lazy you mean." Tikki said before peeping back at the two studying teenagers. "Wait…Adrien is Chat Noir? That seems so…unlike him."

"Yeah, he makes full use of the whole mask thing. Guy really needs some freedom." Plagg remarked. "He's a good kid though. He gets me Camembert cheese."

"You and your stomach." Tikki sighed with a shake of her head. "You haven't really changed much over the centuries have you?"

"No." Plagg admitted with a smile. "But would you really want me too?"

"No." Tikki smiled back and his dark face brightened. That made her giggle a little; no matter how much he drove her crazy, she had missed him a lot. She took another glance out of the bag and watched as Marinette and Adrien both reached for a pencil at the same time and jumped as their hands touched. She noted how they each blushed and went for something else only for their hands to bump again and she gave a gasp. "Oh my God…Plagg this is so perfect!"

"It is?" Plagg replied confused as Tikki grabbed his shoulders and shook him, almost loosening his cheese from his grasp.

"Yes! Can't you see?" Tikki saw his blank expression and cleared her throat to explain. "Marinette has the hugest crush on Adrien and it's plain to see from the news that Chat Noir…"

"…has a huge crush on Ladybug, I know, I have to hear about it all the time." Plagg finished. "So?"

"So they are in love with each other but they don't realise it!" Tikki squealed excitedly. "They simply adore each other but don't realise it is the same person! Oh, this is so romantic!

"And confusing." Plagg added as Tikki stared out of the bag at the two of them with her button eyes shining. "My head is reeling…I need more cheese."

"Plagg!" Tikki said as he dug back into his precious Camembert. "We need to get them together, don't you see? They will never manage to on their own! They are simply perfect for each other like Romeo and Juliet!"

"Or like me and Camembert!"

"Plagg try to think of something else other than food for a minute!" Tikki started pondering and Plagg watched her quizzically as he gulped down his last morsel. "We just need a good plan, that's all…"

"Are you sure we can do this?" Plagg asked her doubtfully. "Remember we're not supposed to know about them or each other, they would flip if they found out. What can we do?"

"We'll think of something!" Tikki insisted, a grin on her face. "We are Miraculous, we can do anything!"

"I know we are." Plagg said as he flew to her side to watch Marinette and Adrien. He saw her give him a longing glance that he completely missed as he was staring at the image of Ladybug she had on her computer screen. He sighed deeply. "But it's going to take a miracle to get the pair of them to see that."

"Oh come on Plagg, you're always so pessimistic." Tikki said brightly. "Remember, we are magic…"

Marinette scribbled some more notes down on her page but her mind wasn't focused on the book she had open in front of her. Doesn't he know he looks so handsome when he does that? She wondered as she tracked the way his eyes flowed across the black lines of text, only pausing for him to write something down before continuing. She felt like she had almost died when their hands had touched and she knew her face was the colour of a flamingo right now with no sign of it cooling down. She tore her eyes away from him and took a quick look at her bag. Tikki was fine, she assured herself. Though I should probably sneak her some cookies, they are her favourite…

She was about to grab a cookie and take it over to the fairy when the room suddenly went dark. The blinds fell down across the windows with a loud clatter and Marinette squealed loudly as she jumped into the air. Around her candles suddenly started appearing, their flames bursting into life as her music system came on and started playing a slow sensual tune she was certain wasn't on there. She clung to whatever she had grabbed hold of and let out another shriek. What on earth was going on?

"Um Marinette? Do you know what is happening?" She heard Adrien say. He sounded, to her relief, just as perplexed and panicked as she did.

"No, I have no idea." She answered him, looking around the room for any more surprises.

"I thought so. Um…could you, um, not squeeze me as tightly?"

"Wha-" She looked down and their noses bumped into each other. She saw, to her horror and embarrassment, that she was engulfing him in her tight grip and was practically sitting in his lap. She was looking into his eyes up close and she could see every shade of green that lay within them, along with every mark on his skin, every groove on his lips…

She squeaked and let go of him, sending herself crashing to the floor in a heap. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hug you, I mean it was nice to hug you but I didn't…"

"It's fine." He held out a hand to help her up and she took it, inwardly cringing as she felt her face burning again. He must think I'm the colour of a lobster all the time, she thought. I'm so useless…

"Well that was unexpected." Adrien tried to shrug it off as he opened the blinds. He gave his bag an angry look as Marinette turned away and switched the music off but he couldn't see Plagg's tricky little face anywhere. "Any idea where that came from?"

"No." Marinette replied honestly, with a glare at her own bag. Tikki wouldn't do this kind of thing, would she? "It is really strange. Weird things like that don't usually happen to me."

"I know, same here." They shared a look and each gave a nervous laugh before returning to the desk. "We should get back to this."

"Right…" Marinette giggled and gave a sheepish grin as they went back to reading the book. Behind the chaise longue, Tikki brought her hand to her head with a clapping sound and a deep sigh.

"This was never going to work Plagg."

"C'mon, did you not see the way they looked at each other? We were so close! All they need is a little more persuasion…"


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three is up! Thank you to everybody who left a review, they have been so lovely and helpful! Thanks especially to heartfulyumi for your suggestion and I hope you don't mind I altered it a little for my own purposes. Please read and enjoy!_

Marinette and Adrien went back to working in silence though both of them were now on edge for any more surprises. Marinette didn't dare look up at Adrien; if he looked into her eyes again like he had done when she was sitting on him, she didn't think she could take it. She firmly kept her head down apart from when she made little side glares at her bag. Her parents had brought up more cookies but she wasn't going to give Tikki any. She should have known better than to pull something like that, she thought crossly as she scrawled across the page and made a blob of ink splat onto her notes. What could have possessed her to do that?

Meanwhile Adrien was also trying too hard to focus on his work but his mind was whirring with other matters. He was attempting not to think about the girl sitting not three feet away from him because whenever he did, he felt something unsettling deep in the pit of his stomach. When he had found himself looking into the depths of her big blue eyes as clear and bright as the water in a rockpool and felt the way she had held him in terror, it had felt oddly familiar. All he had wanted to do for one split second was draw her in closer… No! He snapped at himself. He loved Ladybug with all his heart and that was bad enough, he didn't need feelings for his friend Marinette causing more confusion. Why did Plagg have to do that? He thought as he gave his bag a furious look. He had been planning to sneak him some Camembert but he wasn't going to bother now. He shouldn't have tried to pull something like that. If only he knew what trouble he had caused.

Unknowingly to them, both of the fairies were watching them silently and were creeping closer to the desk with each awkwardly passing minute. Tikki had her eyes glued to both of them, dismay written on her face whilst Plagg trailed after her with a grin threatening to split his face in two.

"Plagg, are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked him when they were only a few paces away. "I'm regretting telling you about this now…"

"Don't worry about it Tikki," Plagg insisted. "Everything will be fine. You saw how close we were last time, they were totally having a moment. All we need to do is make it last a little bit longer."

"Like this?" Tikki looked at him nervously before her eyes narrowed. "Why are you getting so into this anyway? You never usually want to help with anything."

Plagg crossed his arms and shrugged. "Do you want me to stop helping you?" When she shook her head he said "I like causing chaos, it's in my nature. You should know that. It's not like I want to help the kid or anything…"

"Aww Plagg," Tikki cooed at him. "You're not getting attached to Adrien are you?"

"I already told you, he gets me cheese!" Plagg snapped defensively, ignoring Tikki's knowing smile. "And if you didn't want to do this, you shouldn't have told me about those papers. Now, are you ready?"

"Ready." Tikki replied with an uncertain nod. They were now positioned right next to the desk, floating inches away from Marinette's elbow. They each gave a look and a nod to each other before they snuck a little bit closer to the drawer and touched it with their hands.

Magic pulsed through the drawer and it shot open with all the force and noise of a gun going off. All of the pictures Marinette had of Adrien, all the photos and pages ripped from magazines, came flying out and fluttered around the room like demented butterflies. They tumbled around the pair of them like giant snowflakes and Marinette felt cold fear rising up inside her like a wave of freezing cold water. If Adrien saw all this…

"Tikki!"

"Plagg!"

Both of them cursed as they leapt up and started pulling the sheets from the air in fistfuls. "Don't look!" Marinette yelled over at Adrien but she could only just see him in the flurry of paper. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, hold on I-Whoa!" Adrien reached upwards to grab more of the fluttering pages but his foot slipped on one of the shiny magazines that had already landed on the floor and he fell backwards. He closed his eyes, bracing himself to hit the ground but the jolt of pain he expected didn't come. He opened his eyes to see Marinette's surprised face looking down on his. It slowly turned the colour of a strawberry as they both realised that she, despite her usual clumsiness, had caught him. He could feel his own face blushing as their eyes were once again locked in a trance. He put his hand on the ground to steady himself but he couldn't tear his gaze away as the papers continued to fall around them like oversized confetti. She started to stammer an apology but he put his other hand on her shoulder and it made her fall silent, her eyes shining into his like two bright stars. If he leaned any closer to her, their foreheads would have been touching. If he leaned closer still…

"Hello! Do you two need any more food?"

The sunny voices of Marinette's parents rose from the trapdoor as it flew open. Adrien was dropped to the floor as Marinette silently screamed, her mouth contorting into panicked shapes and her arms failing about.

"No Mama, Papa! We're fine! Thank you!" Marinette managed to yell down as she slammed the door back down, almost dancing on it to make sure it was shut. She then looked over at Adrien with an awkward smile. "Hehe…sorry about that. I don't know what came over them. Or what is going on in my room at the moment."

"It's OK." Adrien said, not noticing the way she angrily looked at her purse as he hauled himself to his feet. "Let's get this all cleared up. Why do you have so many of these?" He asked her with a chuckle.

"I…erm…use them for…inspiration!" She babbled out as she quickly scooped up some of the pictures that pooled at her feet. "The clothes in them…I really like clothes!"

"I can see." Adrien smiled at her and the sudden image of him in her arms came flooding back into her mind. It was so intense she had to turn away so he wouldn't see her raging blushing. "So…earlier didn't you yell out something? Something like Tikki?"

"Oh, did I?" Marinette panicked. She wished the ground would swallow her up as she felt his eyes on her back. "I think what I actually said was…tuck it! Yeah, as in tuck all these papers back into the drawer!"

"Oh right." Adrien replied as she let out a massive sigh. "That does make more sense."

"Yeah." She said as something occurred to her. "Didn't you say something as well?"

"Oh, erm yes!" Adrien said, flustered as he tried to think of an answer. "I said…plug! As in, we need to plug this up!" He pointed at the drawer and gave it a stare, hoping that it would convince her. If she knew what was going on…

"Oh I see." She answered after a few seconds and he finally breathed out. They had gathered up the last of the papers and she closed the drawer hastily shut and gave a quick worried glance at her bed before saying "We should probably get back to work…"

As she spoke, her computer came on and the image of a ruffled-looking newsreader sprang up on the screen.

"Breaking news!" She announced in a severe tone. "The city of Paris is once again under attack by a creature that calls itself The Trash Man who claims to be 'ridding the city of its garbage!' Anything that he touches is being compressed and citizens are being warned to stay indoors as he marches on the city…"

 _Oh no, an akuma!_ They each thought as they watched the screen in horror. They saw footage of a hulk of a man walking down a street with people screaming and running away. He was in a bright yellow and green bodysuit with a hazard jacket slashed with silver draped over him like a cape. He also had a black gas mask covering his face with black gloves and heavy boots and the smell coming from him was so strong and foul, it was coming off him in visibly green waves. They gave each other a worried look as they each realised they had to transform but couldn't, not in front of the other…

"I have to go to the bathroom!" Marinette suddenly yelled, running and grabbing her purse before almost hurling herself down the trapdoor. She didn't see the small red blur that only just manged to get back into it before she picked it up. "I may be some time so you just carry on!"

"OK!" Adrien said back, relieved. "I'll just stay here…not doing anything…"

The second she disappeared from his sight he whipped around and unzipped his bag. He glared furiously down at Plagg, who was perched on top of one of his books humming like nothing was the matter.

"Plagg what the heck were you doing?!" Adrien snapped at him. Plagg's eyes widened at the unexpected anger in his voice. "Are you trying to get me ousted as Chat Noir?!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Plagg said, struggling to keep his face and tone neutral. "Have you got any cheese for me? You promised me more Camembert!"

"Later!" Adrien sighed, knowing he would get nowhere with the cheeky black fairy. "We have other matters to attend to."

Meanwhile Marinette had just got to the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She opened her purse and Tikki catapulted out of it. She saw Marinette crossly glaring at her and she gave an innocent smile.

"Don't give me that Tikki!" Marinette hissed. "I don't know what you are trying to do but you need to stop!"

"Stop what? I haven't done anything!" Tikki exclaimed, acting insulted. Marinette groaned and shook her head.

"Never mind, we will talk about this later." She said grudgingly. "For now, there's an akuma we have to deal with. Ready?"

"Ready!" The red fairy squealed.

"Tikki, spots on!"

"Plagg, claws out!"

 _Dundundunnnn! So I'm in a bit of a dilemma on whether I should actually write the battle with the akumaised villain I made up. Should I or would it be an unwelcome break from the story? Please leave a review and help me make up my mind. Thank you again!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello again! So I decided to write a bit of the battle, just the end bit, because I wanted to see if I could do it justice. I hope you guys like it!_

"Ladybug, look out!" Chat Noir shouted as the Trash Man shot another jet of dank green fog from his hands in her direction. She turned at his call and elegantly flipped away from it, her grace making the moves look like dancing. She landed and ran towards him, sliding under more of the green mist that was fired at her before skidding to a halt next to him.

"Thanks for the heads up." She smiled at him and he beamed back. "Now we have to get at his akuma, I think it's in his-duck!"

She threw herself at him and they both crashed to the ground behind a nearby car, narrowly missing the stream of stinking smoke that had been aimed at their heads. She opened her eyes to find she was nose to nose with Chat Noir and he was devilishly grinning up at her. She could see her own shocked expression mirrored in his green eyes and a little gasp escaped her. Why did this feel like déjà vu? And why was it making her stomach flip like that?

"Cat got your tongue, M'Lady?" He asked as her mind span. He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her and she groaned.

"This is serious Chat!" She said as she quickly scrambled into a crouching position and he followed suit, still grinning playfully at her. They looked around and saw the thick green smog was travelling across the street and threatening to engulf them at any minute. She looked over the car and saw the bright figure of the Trash Man laughing loudly in the middle of it all and her face creased in concern when she saw how many people were getting caught up in it. They needed a new strategy. They had been fighting this akumatised villain for a while now and he was showing no signs of weakening. Surely Adrien would be wondering where she was…

"Lucky Charm!" She cried as she threw her yoyo up into the air. There was a blaze of light and she caught something small as it fell back to the earth. She opened her fingers and stared confused at the red and black spotted clothes peg that sat in her palm.

"What am I…" She stared to say before she was alerted by her partner hissing.

"The smoke is getting closer…" He warned her taking her arm and pulling her away from it before he made a face like he was about to vomit and covered his nose with both hands. "Urgh and it reeks!"

"That's it!" She exclaimed as things around her started to glow with black and red spots, including the body of her partner. "Chat, hold still!"

She clipped the peg onto his nose, ignoring his yelp of protest, and then tied her yoyo around his leg. He looked at her confused and she hurriedly explained her plan. "We need to get close to him and if I throw you over there, it will be easy-if you can't smell him, he can't get you. When I throw you, aim for his glove and use Cataclysm on it. It should disintegrate and then I can catch the akuma!"

"I thought it was in his duck?" Chat Noir smiled at her and she sighed and shook her head. "C'mon Bugaboo, you said it yourself."

"I'll take that to mean you're ready." She gave him a wry smile and started to spin around.

"Time to take out the trash!" Chat Noir yelled as she swung him around like she was in the hammer throw at the Olympics and let go. He sailed through the air at the surprised Trash Man who he could no longer smell thanks to the clothes peg. Realising he was powerless, he tried to run but Chat Noir tackled him to the ground with a triumphant shout of "Cataclysm!" He grasped the left black glove of the wriggling villain and it crumbled to gritty black dust, allowing a little black butterfly to flutter out.

"You've done enough harm little akuma!" Ladybug sprang up and brandished her yoyo, catching the tiny dark insect. "It's time to de-evilise!"

She deftly caught her yoyo and pressed it open, realising the butterfly which was now white as a pearl. She wished it goodbye before whisking the peg from Chat Noir's nose and throwing it into the sky. Everything magically went back to normal around them and now instead of a dangerous villain, a rather confused looking man in a dustman's uniform was lying on the ground in front of them scratching his head.

"Good jo-Chat?" Ladybug turned to bump fists with her partner for a job well done but he was nowhere to be seen. She turned around and scanned the crowd that was slowly appearing now that the danger was gone but she couldn't spot his distinctive black leather. He had vanished completely from sight.

Realising she had to do the same and get back to Adrien, she threw her yoyo at the nearest building and swung away from the scene. The crowd cheered her as she swept away but the moment she was away, she frowned as no matter how excited she was to get back to Adrien, the sudden disappearance of Chat Noir played on her mind. She knew he could handle himself-she had seen that when she had met him as Marinette-but it still unnerved her. Usually she was the one who disappeared and he was the one to linger and he never usually left without a goodbye. Why was she getting so worked up over this? She thought as she shook her head like she was trying to shake them out of her head. He was just her goofball partner; she shouldn't be bothered like this…

A bleeping from her ears alerted her to how close she was to reverting back to her regular self and within seconds, she spotted her home just ahead of her. With a little sigh of relief, she spun up into the air and spiralled down, landing on the door on the roof. Phew, she thought as she clambered silently down into her pastel pink bedroom. Hopefully Adrien hasn't been waiting for too long…

She went to hop down but froze when she looked over at her desk. Chat Noir was relaxing in her chair, whistling a tune and twiddling a pencil in his fingers. She quickly hid and watched him closely, ignoring the second bleep that came from her earrings. Although he gave the appearance of being calm and collected, she could read him well enough to see that his body was tense and worried and he kept sneaking anxious glances at the door.

"C'mon Plagg!" She heard him hiss in an irritated tone. "You can't stay in there forever! Is this about the cheese? I will get you cheese, now hurry up and please stop sulking! I need to change back!"

"Chat?" She leapt down to face him and he violently swung around in his chair, nearly toppling from it in shock. "What's going on? What are you doing in my room?"

"Your room?" He said and she clapped her hands over her mouth as she realised her mistake. Suddenly there was a flash of light and when she looked back down, she was back to being Marinette. She squeaked loudly as she turned and saw Tikki fly to her side, a big satisfied grin on her face.

"Marinette?!" Chat Noir was staring at her dumbfounded. "You're…"

Before he finished, there was another burst of light and left sitting in the chair was Adrien. Adrien? Marinette thought as she felt both her hands fall to her sides as her mouth dropped open. Adrien was Chat Noir? It couldn't be…

"Yes! We did it!" A small black cat-like fairy flew out from behind Adrien and Tikki bobbed over to meet him. She engulfed him in a hug that made his cheeks go red and his mouth twitch into a bashful smile before she grabbed his hands and whirled him around, both of them cheering as Marinette and Adrien watched them stunned.

"Good job!" They congratulated each other, bumping their tiny fists together laughing.

"Plagg?" Adrien finally managed to splutter out and both fairies turned to him. "You…you know her? What is…how…what is going on?"

"Adrien!" Tikki squealed as she flew over to him and hovered in front of him. "I'm Tikki, the Miraculous that makes Ladybug! It's so lovely to finally meet you, I've heard so much…"

"Woah, let him breathe." Plagg flew to her side and put his hand on her shoulder. "Tikki and I go back millennia," He explained. "But we hadn't seen each other for years until today. She found me in your bag earlier and that was when we realised who Ladybug and Chat Noir were and that you two have been crushing on each other the whole time…"

"And it's so adorable!" Tikki gushed but she stopped when Adrien looked away from them both and at Marinette who was still standing in the centre of the room unmoved. Her eyes were wide and she was staring at Adrien like he had grown another head. He stood up slowly and went over to her, taking both her hands and holding them gently, feeling how they were trembling like leaves shaking in the wind. There was a part of him that couldn't believe it was her, that his Ladybug was standing before him in the form of this stunned girl but now he knew, he was wondering how he had never seen it before. She hadn't been akumatised, they looked so alike, it was just so right…

"Marinette…" He started to say as the world seemed to suddenly go deathly quiet. He wanted to declare his love, shout it to the world now that he had finally found her but the words died in his throat when he glanced up and saw the look in her eyes. They were pools of disbelief, the deep blue not fully registering what she was seeing before her. Why wasn't she saying anything? Had she not wanted it to be him? Was she horrified to see him there? He could feel his confidence faltering as her mouth started to move.

"Adrien, I-"

"I'm sorry, I have to go!" Adrien blurted out as he heard the trapdoor opening as Marinette's parents once again peeked to see how they were getting on. He grabbed his school bag and bundled the papers on the desk inside before grasping Plagg and stuffing him in there as well, ignoring the yowls that Plagg made in protest. He then bolted from the room, zooming past Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng and running down the stairs like he was being chased. They stared after him and then looked in at their daughter, who was standing in the centre of the room frozen like a statue, her chest gasping as if the words she had been longing to say were stuck in her lungs and choking her. They didn't see the little red fairy pressed against the window, trying to see which way her friend had gone and trying to hide her tears as the glorious plan they had built fell apart.

 _Well this got angsty…next chapter will be the last. Please leave a review, they make me happy and when I'm happy I write!_


	5. Chapter 5

"Adrien, snap out of it!" Plagg strained as he tugged on one of the boy's longest locks of golden hair, pulling hard on it with each word. "You-need-to-get-UP!"

He heaved with all of his strength but the soft hair slipped from his grasp and he was sent tumbling backwards through the air, landing with a thump on the other side of the bed. He groaned as he sat up and rubbed his head before his shoulders slumped dejectedly when he saw Adrien hadn't moved. This really wasn't going how they had planned it at all.

After Adrien had ran all the way from Marinette's house to his own, he had thrown himself on his bed and hadn't moved since, despite all of Plagg's best efforts. He laid on his front on top of the rumpled covers, his face buried so deeply in his pillow, it looked like it had been moulded there. He made no sound and the deathly silence in the room rang in Plagg's ears as he stood back up and tried to think of a new plan. I wish Tikki was here, Plagg thought sadly as he stared at the motionless body on the bed. She would know what to do.

He pressed his hands to his forehead as he tried to think of a new plan. He had tried everything to get a reaction from him; he had shouted at him, pleaded with him, he had even held cheese right by his head until the temptation had grown too strong and he had eaten it himself. Now he was at a complete loss for what to do. The longer Adrien stayed there moping, the less time he had to go back and be forgiven, the window they had was getting smaller… He paced a little as he thought and an idea struck him. It wasn't one Tikki would approve of but desperate times…

He flew over to Adrien and prised one of his fingers out from his curled fists. Adrien gave a murmur of protest but didn't do anything else except burrow further into the pillow. Plagg gave him a look of apology before he closed his eyes and, imagining he was holding a triangle of creamy Camembert, he sunk his tiny needle-sharp teeth into the pink flesh just below the knuckle.

Adrien let out a howl of pain and sprang up from the bed, throwing his arm out to shake Plagg free which made him fly across the room and hit the wall opposite. He slid down the wall with a hiss of pain as Adrien examined the teeth marks on his finger that was now specked with beads of bright red. He grabbed a tissue and held it to the wound before shooting Plagg an angry look.

"What was that for?" He said as Plagg flew in a wonky line over to him.

"That was for ignoring me." Plagg told him before he flew up to his face and slapped him hard on the cheek. "And that was for running away from the love of your life before she had even had a chance to say anything!"

Adrien held his hand up to his cheek and Plagg saw how red his eyes were. He cast his eyes downwards, unable to meet the fairy's gaze. His face was a mask of misery. "She didn't need to say anything Plagg. Didn't you see the way she looked at me? She looked horrified that it was me, she was disappointed. She was expecting some dashing hero and what she got was me."

"You're all she wants though!" Plagg protested, now regretting being so hard on him. "She has the hugest crush on you, Tikki told me, all she ever talks about is you! The girl was stunned, that's all-wouldn't you be if you discovered your crime-fighting partner had been sitting in front of you at school the whole time? The only way she looked at you like that is in your own head!"

Adrien sat back down heavily on the bed and stared at the floor. Determined not to be ignored, Plagg hovered in front of his eyes like a buzzing fly as he continued. "She'll understand Adrien, neither of you were in the right state for this. You just need to go back."

Adrien's head sunk until it was almost touching his knees. "What if she doesn't?" he mumbled, his voice on the verge on breaking. "What if she rejects me…I couldn't deal with that Plagg, not after Mum…"

"Adrien, that won't happen." Plagg looked at the broken boy in front of him and he could feel tears forming behind his eyes. He wished there was some magic that could heal the rift inside him but he knew that wasn't possible. The only remedy he needed for this heartbreak was across town. "She adores you and you adore her. Why would she reject you? I would bet my life, no I would bet my Camembert that she regrets what happened this afternoon just as much as you do. This isn't going to help either of you. C'mon," He flew down and pulled his head upwards so they were looking each other in their matching green eyes. "You'll never know if you don't try. Besides…I hate seeing you like this. Me and Tikki…we were only trying to make you guys happy. We didn't want all of this."

Adrien looked at him for a moment before a small smile appeared on his face. "Aw Plagg, you're not risking cheese on this, are you? You really must care."

"Well…maybe not that far." Plagg said, smiling as Adrien burst out laughing. "And of course I care. Where else am I going to get it from?"

Adrien chuckled at his Miraculous and rose his hand to stroke his head. At first Plagg resisted but then he nuzzled into the touch and made a roaring purr. "You really are just a soft little kitty cat, aren't you?"

"I am not!" Plagg vehemently denied and Adrien laughed again at how the little black fairy crossed his arms and tried to scowl at him.

"I'll take your word for it." Adrien smiled as he stood up and looked out of the window, leaning his forehead on the cool glass as he collected his jumbled thoughts. He looked out in the direction of the Dupain-Cheng bakery and saw how quickly the light was fading. The sky was almost completely navy blue with only a thin line of pink on the horizon to indicate that the daylight had ever been there. He looked back at Plagg who was now hovering hopefully in the air behind him. "Are you sure about this? Do…do you really think she'll give me another chance?" He asked him, the last bit of doubt he had wavering in his voice.

"I'm positive." Plagg reassured him with a toothy smile. "I've never been more sure in my life and I've lived for a really long time!"

"I know." Adrien said with a sly smile. "You sure you don't just want to see Tikki again?"

When Plagg went red, Adrien gave him a smile and turned around to face him. "It's OK, I know what I have to do." He said determinedly and Plagg could see the courage surging in his face. "I'm going to get my lady back. Plagg, claws out!"

Lying in her bed at the bakery, Marinette was in turmoil. She kept tossing and turning, tangling herself up in her sheets as her mind kept replaying the scenes from that afternoon like a movie she had seen too many times, could mouth every line and knew exactly how it ended. Every part was on a painful repeat; when she had jumped scared into his lap, when she had caught him falling, the moment she had seen the joy in his face fade when she hadn't said anything…

Tears leaked from her blue eyes as she pressed her pillow to her face to smother her sobs. Although she knew Tikki was still awake, she didn't want to disturb her. She hadn't spoken a word since Adrien had left and Marinette knew she was being eaten up with guilt. She had never seen her like this; usually she was so wise and perky but now nothing Marinette had said to her made her feel any better. She's missing Plagg, Marinette thought as she spied the tiny form of the bug-like fairy curled up by her bed. And the awful thing is, I'm missing Adrien.

She couldn't believe she had let him go. She had wanted to say so much yet time had seemed to stand still and no words had seemed big enough to convey how she felt. She had felt so shocked that the sweet boy she adored and the goofball partner she occasionally despaired of but still cared for were the same person that she had just stood there like an ice sculpture even though she had been internally melting. And now he was gone. Her parents had asked her what was wrong and tried to make her feel better but they had seen how torn up she was and after a while had left her alone like she had wanted them to. Then she had gone to bed and not left it since.

He probably hates me now, she thought as she sniffed into her sodden pillow but still clutched it tighter. And I can't blame him. I would hate me too. I'm awful, no wonder he ran.

As she curled herself up under the pink sheets, she heard the soft sound of something tapping. She lifted her head up and looked around the room but she couldn't see a thing. She looked over at Tikki and saw her head perk up as well as they both scanned the dark room. The tapping came again and she scrambled out of bed and looked out of the window. Crouching on the window ledge was Chat Noir, his green eyes staring at her luminously from the dark. She let out a gasp and struggled to keep her balance as she ran to the window and hastily let him in. He almost fell into the room and she shut the window behind him, unable to look him in the face. She was trembling as she turned around.

"Adrien, I-"

"You don't have to say anything." He garbled quickly before he took her hands and spun her around to face him. She could feel his hands were shaking too as he dropped to his knees in front of her, his head bowed as if waiting for a blow. "I know what I did was wrong and you have every right to be mad at me. I shouldn't have done that to you, I ran away before you could speak and that is unforgivable. I'm so sorry, it's just…you don't know how much you mean to me. I thought you were horrified and…I couldn't deal with it. I'm sorry-"

"Adrien, you shouldn't be the one saying sorry." He looked up at her and her blue eyes bore into his, he saw that they were shining with tears. She freed one of her hands from his claws and brought it to his chin, gently lifting him to his feet. She kept his eyes on hers and he felt mesmerised by them. "I should be, I was the one who stood there like an idiot and didn't say anything. I was just so shocked, I…I couldn't think straight. Please don't ever think I was horrified to see you. It was the opposite, I…I had never been happier in my life."

"R-really?" he murmured and when she gave a nod, he smiled so happily at her, she could feel her knees go weak. More tears spilled down her cheeks and he reached up a hand and brushed them away, his hand caressing her cheek. "So…I guess we're even then?" he said jokingly in typical Chat Noir style, still unable to take his eyes away from her.

She giggled and his heart leapt. "Almost kitty." She said before she leaned forwards and, with the boldness of Ladybug firing through her veins, she brought her lips to his.

For a second he didn't react then she felt his hand running through her hair, freeing it from her messy ponytails and letting the crinkled ribbons fall to the floor. His other hand released hers and travelled to the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. He turned his head slightly to deepen the kiss, cradling her head as he bent over and dipped her a little which made her hold him tighter though she knew he wouldn't let her go. She heard him purr with pleasure as she ran her fingers through his hair and he pulled her further into his embrace so there was no space between them. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't notice when Chat Noir became Adrien and Plagg span into the room. He looked around for Tikki and saw her floating by the window with pure joy on her face as she awed at the pair of them. When she saw Plagg, she flew over to him and gripped him in another hug.

"Are you seeing this?" She whispered breathlessly as they broke apart. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at them and Plagg had to smile as well.

"Yes, I am. Told you my plan would work."

"You did not!" She pretended to hit him and he only narrowly avoided being hit for real. "And it wasn't your plan!"

"OK, OK," He said, softly taking her hand as she turned back to the happy couple in front of them who had both come up for air and were now holding each other with their foreheads pressed together and their eyes closed, happy tears gleaming on their faces like silver in the moonlight. "It was our plan."

He was thankful that it was dark so she couldn't see how red his face was. He snuck a glance at her and saw she was smiling at him.

"Yeah." She murmured as he felt her squeeze his hand. "Our plan. It couldn't have turned out better."

 _The end! I hope you all liked it! Thanks so much again for all the lovely reviews and things I have gotten, you are all so amazing! CursedRedRose out_


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